One of the mega-showpiece projects of the Maharashtra government - the Eastern Freeway Project, connecting south Mumbai to the eastern suburbs - was inaugurated here by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and will be open for traffic from Friday.

Chavan inaugurated it Thursday evening and it will be opened for motorists to use from Friday, said an official of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Constructed at a cost of Rs.1,250 crore, the 13.59 km long, toll-free, signal-free EFP is an elevated four-lane bridge which will slash the travel time between south Mumbai to Chembur from 90 minutes to less than 25 minutes.

The EFP's highlights include a four-lane elevated road from Orange Gate in south Mumbai to Anik, near Wadala, an eight-lane twin tunnel between Anik and Panjrapole near Chembur, and another four-lane elevated road from Panrapole to Ghatkopar.

Besides easing traffic congestion at Dadar, Sion and Chembur, considered perpetual bottlenecks, the smooth road will entail huge savings in time and fuel costs.

It will also provide a speedy connectivity between the island city to the eastern suburbs and onwards to Navi Mumbai where the new international airport is coming up, and on to Pune and Goa.

Motorists zooming from south Mumbai will drive along fully elevated corridor of EFP, there will be a 550-metre long twin tunnel - the first of its kind in an urban set-up in India, on the Anik-Panjrapole Link Road - to make it a pleasant driving experience.

Though ready nearly 10 days ago, the opening was delayed as the state government was making attempts to bring a VVIP like UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi or Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for the honours.

However, facing sharp public criticism, the MMRDA had it inaugurated.

Eastern Freeway

"The EPF will be opened to public tomorrow (friday) as it will take some time to remove the marquee and other arrangements set up for the inauguration," said MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner U.P.S. Madan.

The EFP joins the string of prestigious mega-projects of the MMRDA dotting Mumbai like the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea Link, the Metrorail, the Monorail, the proposed Trans Harbour Link and others to improve Mumbai traffic movement.

Chavan, who was accompanied by his deputy Ajit Pawar, stressed that if the maximum city were to achieve its ambition of becoming a financial capital, it should have projects of global standards like the Freeway.

Chavan added that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which is headed by him, will commission projects of up to Rs 5,000 crore to public during the year and added work on over Rs 40,000 crore of projects is underway.

Vehicles need not pay any toll charges for using the Rs 980 crore-road

The road seems to be targeted at the passenger cars as heavy trucks and containers, which would otherwise form a bulk of traffic because of the port being in close proximity, are not allowed on the road.

Two wheelers and three wheelers will also not be allowed on the road.

Chavan, whose administration has been under attack for delaying the inauguration of the project, sought to dispel such notions saying it got pushed due to the non-completion of work.

Chavan, whose administration has been under attack for delaying the inauguration of the project, sought to dispel such notions saying it got pushed due to the non-completion of work.

"Some blasting work was on in the tunnel and we could not risk throwing it open. We are also yet to complete the final phase of the project which will connect Panjrapol in Chembur with Ghatkopar, but decided to start the completed stretch now considering the balance of convenience," he said.

One of the mega-showpiece projects of the Maharashtra government - the Eastern Freeway Project, connecting south Mumbai to the eastern suburbs - was inaugurated here by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and will be open for traffic from Friday.